Rural Pastors

Thursday, November 3, 2016

The Keys to Self-Care

Benefits for Both You and Your Congregation

Guest Columnist, Dr. Elmer Colyer

We all know that it is one of our dirty little secrets as
clergy. We are trained to take care of other people and we do to the very best
of our ability. However, we often are
not as adept or as conscientious at taking care of ourselves. This lack of
attention to our own lives often leads pastors into ill health and/or deep
discouragement. In addition, the issue of self-care and severity of the
problems it creates when we don’t engage in it gets worse as we get older.

I am not contributing to this blog to make anyone feel
guilty, ashamed, or further burdened in the midst of our very challenging
vocation of pastoral ministry. I
understand the struggle as it has been on ongoing issue for me for the entire
36 years I have been in ministry. In
addition to being a seminary professor, I have been a pastor since 1980,
including serving churches on the side for 12 of my 25 years as a professor. I am currently working with a troubled and
conflicted congregation helping them move into a better future. So I might be able to be helpful because I
have had many years of experience, plus a fair amount of reading and research
in this whole are of clergy health and wellness.

In addition, I am an elite bike racer and a USA Cycling
Level 1 Certified Power-Based Training Coach, the highest cycle coaching
certification in the USA. And I am 60
years old. Ya, a geezer-jock, as some
label us. LOL. I have found that I am way more effective and
way more efficient in ministry because I have been an avid cyclist since
1984. I did not start racing bikes until
my sons were all raised and out of the house and I had a bit more time. Prior to that I biked and did some other
forms of exercise for fun and for health and wellness. So let me share some things I have learned
that might be helpful in this whole area of clergy health and wellness.

One of the interesting studies that done within the last 25
years is the Harvard study around aging. Harvard studied people who aged well.
For most of the 20th century geriatrics and the medical professions perspective
on health and wellness in the second half of life was based on studies done earlier
in the 20th century of people who did not age well.

The Harvard study has revolutionized our understanding of
the aging process. What we know now is that life after 45 does not have to be a
gradual slide into the grave. Indeed
what we are discovering is that people can live incredibly healthy lives, even
athletic lives, much longer than we ever dreamed possible before the Harvard
study.

One of the spin‑offs of this change is that we are finding
that aging athletes perform incredibly well against their younger competitors
beyond what anyone would have dreamed possible 30 years ago. So a couple years ago at the USA cycling
Masters National bike races, the fastest 40K time trial of all of those
competing from 30 on up was done by a guy who was 51 years old. He literally beat dozens and dozens and
dozens the top amateur athletes in North America between 30 and 40 years old
despite being over 50.

The same physiology that enables aging athletes to perform
so well is accessible to the vast majority of people over 50 years old. What
this means is that by switching to a healthy diet and consistent exercise,
people over 50, even those who not in very good physical shape, can not only
improve, but can actually become biologically younger than their numerical
age. Because of various biological
changes after 50 our bodies need not only cardiovascular work (walking,
running, biking, swimming, etc.), but also strength training and stretching
routines so that we can maintain our range of motion and not lose our muscle
strength. This doesn't mean that you
have to go to a gym and pump iron. There are a bunch of exercises that we can
do by simply using our body weight as resistance or using inexpensive stretchy
thick rubber bands designed to produce the resistance that muscle needs.

The even bigger pay-off that comes from moving to a healthy
life-style is its affect upon all the other areas of life. We human beings, not bodies with an
additional "soul" different from and residing within our
bodies. We are totally
interconnected. So when we eat an
unhealthy diet and live a physically unhealthy lifestyle, it affects everything
else, including our mental abilities, our emotions, our relationships with
others, etc. Healthy eating and exercise
for the vast majority of people actually have an incredibly positive effect
upon their emotional state, self-esteem, and overall sense of well‑being. A healthy diet and exercise are huge in
warding off stress and in dealing with depression, and they increase our energy
level and reserves. There is a reason
why we hear some athletes talk about a runner's or athlete's "high" that comes with exercise. There are deep biochemical reasons for this.

So one of the key steps we pastors can take to improve our
quality of life is to start our self-care at the bottom level of our hierarchy
of needs: our physical well-being simply because it will contribute positively
to our well-being at the higher levels as well.
I promise that if you take some steps to improve your diet and engage in
regular exercise it will have a tremendous positive effect all many areas of
your life and it ways that may even surprise you.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Start with several doable small steps.

-Eat healthy for 2 meals a day or 5
days of the week or 75% of the time as your first step in the right direction. IF you don't
know the basics of eating healthy, do a google search and you can learn the basics in 10 minutes.

-Go for a 10-15 minute walk or bike
ride 3-4 times a week, and build up to 30-45 minutes.

-Find someone to go with you on
this journey, a friend or a spouse for support and to help you keep at it.

2. After a month, if you want to get more serious I highly
recommend the book, YOUNGER NEXT YEAR, by Chris Crowley and Henry Lodge. It is a very funny but extremely helpful book
about staying healthy as we age. It will
tell you most of what you need to know to live healthy.

3. If you are really out of shape and over-weight, you will
want to see your doctor before you launch into a vigorous exercise
program. Doing too much when we are not
ready can be dangerous. I make every
athlete I coach get a physical before I put them into rigorous exercise
program. I guy I have coached for a
number of years hit 55 this year and I suggested that it was time for get
another complete physical. His physician
discovered a 4 cm aneurysm on one of the arteries supplying blood to his
heart. Needless to say, we quickly
modified his training program! It is
always good to see the doctor before launching into an exercise program.

I have peddled away a lot of frustration and stress over
many years. I have also had some
profoundly moving times of prayer while peddling my away up and over the
rolling hills around Dubuque. Some days
it is just plain fun. And some days it
is totally boring and I don’t feel like doing it. But eating healthy and biking have been a
huge blessing and benefit. Maybe I will
see you out on the road or even at a race.

I would be happy to answer questions or be helpful in other
ways if you are interested in moving into a healthier life in that amazing
vocation we call pastoral ministry.

El Colyer

Dr. Elmer Colyer is an experienced pastor, professor, and coach. He is an ordained pastor and elder in the Wisconsin Conference of the United Methodist Church and serves as Professor of Systematic Theology and Stanley Professor of Wesley Studies at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, where he is also Director of the United Methodist Studies Program. In addition to being an elite bike racer and coach, he is also deeply committed to clergy coaching. I am extremely grateful for his wisdom and friendship, as well as his willingness to contribute to Rural Pastors.

Monday, October 10, 2016

The Crisis of Comfort

I love my chair. It is soft and familiar and well-worn in
all the right places. It fits me just right. When I come home from work after a
stressful day I know that my chair will be waiting and that I can ease myself
into it and feel a sense of comfort, even when everything else is swirling
around me.

But not everyone sees my chair the same way, not even
everyone in my own family. Instead of well-worn, they might say that it is worn
out and that it has seen better days. They might say that I should get a new
chair, one that looks nicer and fits with the rest of the décor. You see, the
problem is that my chair is located right in the middle of the living room,
between the sofa and the more stylish upholstered furniture. It doesn’t match any of it and my wife has
had to build the rest of the room around my sacred recliner. I know my family
thinks that it is old and out-of-place, but I stubbornly hang on, refusing to
sacrifice my safe space for the sake of developing a living room motif that
actually looks good and makes sense.

The other night as we were discussing the virtues of
relocating my chair, it struck me that this situation is very similar to the
way we often approach ministry. Within our churches and even within our
ministries themselves, we have practices, approaches, and strategies that have
become comfortable through repeated use. We repeat them because they work. We
use them over and over again because we like the results they achieve. They become familiar, both to us and to our
church members, and in the process they may even become a part of our
tradition. There are many practices that we have ritualized over time and that
are both valued and appreciated by pastors and worshipers alike. The way we
celebrate communion, the activities that express community in our
congregations, our personal worship leadership style, even the way committees
do the work of the church – all are a part of the particular fingerprint of a
congregation. Perhaps you have practices that enable you to do particular
ministry functions – the process you use for sermon preparation, the way you
meet with families at the time of a death, your approach to visitation within
the congregation and the larger community. Sometimes our strategies are
comfortable because they work.

But what happens when our context changes around us? Our churches are rarely static. Sometimes membership or attendance increases
– or decreases. Often the nature of the
community in which we live evolves in unexpected ways. Now and then we discover
that events that used to work well seem to have outlived their usefulness or
their practicality. As the world in which we do ministry takes on a new shape,
vital churches frequently need to change with it, so that we can more
effectively reach out and minister in God’s name.

Very often change is hard. Perhaps we have reached the point
where we don’t need that second service, or maybe the choir doesn’t have enough
members to sing every Sunday, or it may be that the Men’s breakfast Bible Study
has just run out of gas. But change is
not always due to decline. Sometimes it
happens as we grow. There are times when we have run out of room in our Sunday
school rooms, or we need to think about adding staff to help with our ministry
responsibilities, or heaven forbid, maybe there are some who are tired of the
old blue hymnal and think that it is time to upgrade.

Change opens up possibilities for new and different ways of
doing ministry. But it is a bit like changing the furniture in the living
room. We can add a new sofa and a new
lamp, but if that same old recliner is still in the middle of the room we can’t
get the effect we have hoped for. When we get caught up in our comfortable way
of doing ministry and refuse to see the possibilities that come with a change
of scenery or a change of programming or a change in practice, our crisis of
comfort is a bit like my refusal to get rid of my old chair. We can actually impede the progress that is
in the best interest of our church.

Now don’t fall for the old myth that any change is good
change. That is simply not true. But
change that comes with a purpose and a dream and an opportunity to bring glory
to God is worth examining. Very often we
as pastors are concerned that we cannot get our church members to buy into new
ideas that we want to try. But every now
and then, we may be the ones who stand in the way. Sitting in our comfortable
easy chair, doing things the way we have always done them, and failing to see
that we ourselves may be the barrier to growth.

Think about your ministry. Are there ways you are
experiencing a crisis of comfort that is actually a barrier to the change your
church actually needs? Sometimes that chair is perfect right where it is and
sometimes it needs to go. How can you be a catalyst for the kind of change that
will bring new vitality to the work and mission of your congregation? Try
moving the “furniture” around a bit. The results may surprise you.

"The Changing Landscape of Rural Ministry - Update"

I would also encourage you to examine the other resources available through the Outlook, including several other articles on Rural Ministry in the July 4, 2016 issue. Jill Duffield and the staff at the Outlook have been very supportive of our efforts to bring resources to rural and small town pastors and leaders and continue to provide an important service to the Church.

Thursday, June 30, 2016

"The Changing Landscape of Rural Ministry"

Check out my article, "The Changing Landscape of Rural Ministry" in the July 4, 2016 issue of The Presbyterian Outlook magazine. The focus of this issue is on finding vital ministry in the midst of change, especially in our rural contexts.

Friday, April 8, 2016

Finding Hidden Gems

Who are the hidden gems in your community?

One of the most rewarding aspects of leading future
pastors on immersion experiences into rural America is the opportunity to
discover the hidden gems who give rural life a special kind of vitality. They are out there in nearly every small town
and rural community. Sometimes their
contributions are known and acknowledged by the people around them and other
times they work rather quietly behind the scenes, sharing of themselves and
their faith in ways that bring little recognition or special compensation. Each
has their own motivation, but all are driven by a call to make life a bit
better for the world and people around them.

This January we met a number of extraordinary people
who showed us the importance of recognizing that we are an interconnected
community, especially in a rural context.

I am reminded of Darwin, an 86 year old farmer near
Bronson, Iowa. Darwin is one of the few
farmers in our area who still work the land with horses, rather than modern
technology. His value for the land in his care, and the animals who assist him,
is evident in everything that he does. Obviously, the acreage that he can cover
is more limited than the typical farmer today, but he claims a respectable yield
without incurring extraordinary expenses.
In the process he exemplifies an ethic of

stewardship that speaks
volumes. What really stands out however,
is his love of God and concern for the students that I bring his way every
year. He doesn’t just want to meet them
and give a tour. He wants to know why
they are becoming a pastor and how they expect to serve. He inquires about their hopes and dreams for
ministry and the expectations they have for life in the parish. He hesitates to
give advice, yet offers a perspective born of many years of faith and hard
work.

Another amazing example is Maggie, the chief
administrator of Ida Services, Inc., who has made a career out of caring for
the “least of these” – men and women who are challenged in one way or another,
but who dream of living independently and finding meaningful employment.
Working in a small town in one of Iowa’s smallest counties, the challenges are
innumerable and funding is a constant concern.
But her care is obvious from the moment you meet her. While weaving through a myriad of government
limitations and regulations, she is a champion for those in her care, looking
for ways to help them aspire to a new way of life. Her task is more than
providing funding or activities. She and her staff provide personal and
vocational training, encourage self-confidence, look for new opportunities, and
lend both physical and emotional support and encouragement. It would be easy to
walk by the ISI building without paying much attention, and unfortunately, many
of the clients who call ISI home have experienced what it is like to be ignored
by individuals and society. But in this
rural community, hope abounds in the most unlikely of places.

You will find one in nearly every small town and
rural area – a volunteer fire department.
Their work is essential to the community and we usually take them for
granted until an emergency arises. These men and women give of their time and
train regularly, without compensation, to respond to crises and disasters that
they hope never happen, but surely will. We often see them out in public during
parades, and steak fries, and endless training exercises. But there is an aspect to their work that
goes entirely unnoticed. As the fire
chief in Battle Creek, Iowa, Deron exemplifies the commitment and even calling
that these men and women share. As he
spoke to our group, he talked as much about the importance of self-care and
pastoral care for the firefighters after responding to a disaster, as he did
about the need for appropriate training and equipment. While the mission of this organization does
not hinge on a spiritual orientation of any kind, this leader is very aware of
the role that faith plays in the well-being of those who serve alongside him -
and in his own life. And he was not afraid to speak

from a perspective of faith
as he described their life and work together.
As such, he uses every resource available in the community to ensure
that the difficult aspects of life that they experience do not emotionally
injure these emergency responders, and he is not afraid to include the local
pastors as the need arises. In his eyes, faith and service are not segmented
and kept apart from one another, but are a part of the whole-life experience
that many of these community servants share.

You can easily visit these communities without ever
meeting these individuals. But the community knows they are there, and in many
cases, is very aware of the contributions they make. They are indeed special,
but they are not unique.

So where are the hidden gems in your community – or
in your congregation? Understanding the role that others play in the life of a
small town can help us to be better pastors and better citizens, and in some
cases, may help us to utilize those gifts to bring our churches a new kind of
life and vitality. It is important to remember that many of these special
servants, never experience a call, are never ordained to special office, and
may never receive any kind of commendation or recognition. But their gifts are invaluable to the
well-being of the people of our area. It
is our job as church leaders to learn how to recognize those gifts, perhaps
cultivate new relationships, and in some cases, learn to work in partnership in
ways that enhance the way of life for others. And in the process we can hope
that they are recognized and that God is glorified.

The hidden gems are there. How will you use them in your work for Jesus?

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

God With Us

“Now all this happened
in order to make come true what the Lord had said through the prophet, ‘A
virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called Immanuel’
(which means, ‘God with us’)." - Matthew 1:22-23

That wonderful season is upon us again, that time when we
gather together with our family and friends to celebrate the birth of our Lord,
Jesus. And although our traditions may
differ, during this special holiday we seem to make an extra effort to be near
those who are important to us. Airports
are crowded, mail is slowed, and highways are packed as we try our best to
share the beauty of this time.

We often see those things as trials we have to endure in
order for Christmas to come. And from
time to time we may even get angry that they are distracting us from the real
reason for the season. I’m not so
sure. You see, just as we long to be
close to our loved ones now, so God longed to be close to the ones he
loved. That’s us. And because he loved us so much, he sent his
only son to be near us. The first
chapter of John tells us that in the person of Jesus, God became human and
lived among us. That’s the kind of love
we celebrate this month.

Of all the names we use to refer to Jesus, the one we use at
Christmas is perhaps the most appropriate.
For as Matthew told us above, Immanuel means, “God with us.” Now that’s not just a catchy phrase or a line
from your favorite Christmas carol, for when Jesus was born, God was truly with
us. He was with us way back then and he
is still here with us today. And that’s
important to each of us as we try our best to live our lives of faith. But this time of year it is easy to remember
that. As we sing our songs and exchange
our gifts and enjoy our families, reminders of God’s presence are all around
us. But what about later, after the tree
is down, the decorations are put away, and the family has all gone home? Do we remember God’s presence then?

We should. For the
promise of Immanuel is not just a promise for December. It’s not meant to be celebrated once a year
and then put away in a box in the attic.
For when God came to be with us, he came to be with us forever. And even when our parties have ended and our
packages are all unwrapped, God is still here.
Waiting and wanting to be a part of our life throughout the year. It’s only up to us to make him feel welcome.

This is an incredibly busy time for rural pastors. The
services are numerous, attendance is usually up, and activities abound. We are often challenged and perhaps even a
bit stressed by the many obligations that crowd our calendars and our
perceptions that each activity is essential to providing a meaningful
experience to each of our members. In
the process of doing Advent and Christmas it is actually possible to miss out
on our own celebration of the season. I
have to admit that there have been times when I have come up for air after the
Christmas Eve service and realized that everyone else has been celebrating but
me. And while it is understandable how
we might fall into that trap, it is completely unnecessary. Because the most basic lesson that we learned
in seminary applies to this time as well – it is not about us.

Pastors and church leaders are more than just paid employees
in the Christmas service machine. Like everyone else in the church, this time
is for us as well. When God came to be
with us, he came to be with us, too. Not
just those in the pew, but everyone who calls Jesus Lord. Therefore, it is up
to each one of us, pastors especially, to make an effort to remember that this
season is not about what we do, but what we receive. And the greatest gift of
all was given in the name of the child we celebrate this week. I hope you will
take the time to experience the Christ, not just tell others about him, as you
celebrate the nativity with your family, your church community, and your own
faith.

Friday, December 4, 2015

Small Churches,
Powerful Worship

I have always admired people who could
play the guitar, especially pastors. The
ability to lead the congregation into an encounter with God by moving
seamlessly between Word and music is a very special gift. Certainly we can do that to a degree with
organ or piano accompaniment, but I have always felt that a pastor who can both
lead music and preach has a sense of intimacy with their congregation that
encourages a feeling of vitality in worship.
I watch my friends or my students stand up there and lead worship with
confidence, playing the familiar strains of “This is the Day” or “Open the Eyes
of My Heart” and setting a mood that is undeniably appealing, and I think, “If
only I could play the guitar…”

But I can’t…and that is a ship that has
long since sailed!

Some congregations are blessed with
musical talent. Others are not. In small
and rural churches this is a fact of life that we frequently cannot
change. We live and minister in a
relatively small pool and our options for recruiting specialized talent is
limited by the nature of our context and community. I have been blessed over the years with some
fantastic organists and pianists, but have never been in a place that had even
one reliable, competent guitar player or a group of people who could make up
even a basic praise band. But that did not mean that we could not have vibrant
worship. Vital rural churches understand that the key to success is in making
the most of our available assets, not being held back by our inherent
limitations.

I am sure that we would all agree that
worship is an essential element of the life of any congregation and is probably
the most visible act of ministry that we perform. In many ways the quality of our worship
defines who we are as a church, particularly to those who are visitors in our
midst. So why is worship vibrant in some congregations and lacking in
others? Believe it or not, in spite of
my confessions of Fender envy, it has less to do with the type of music or the
continuing debate about contemporary vs. traditional styles of worship, than it
has to do with other factors that we can control and encourage.

There are certain things about good
worship that we should simply assume.
For example, worship should honor and praise our Triune God and
encourage us to develop a strong and lasting relationship with Jesus as our
savior. In worship, scripture is essential, preaching should be faithful to the
Word, and music of some kind is an important part of every service. Nearly
every church tries to form their worship around these basics. But there are other factors that we find in
vital churches that seem to set their worship apart from the rest.

Here are a few common themes that we
find in the vibrant worship of vital congregations:

1.Worship is
welcoming.
This may seem obvious and much has been written about the need to be welcoming,
but what I am referring to is far more than whether or not you have greeters at
the door or nametags for your members. It is not enough to just say hello to
someone who visits your church or to make them comfortable or even to invite
them to your fellowship time. Those are all important things. But the key is in the service itself. Our
worship service should be developed in such a way that it is welcoming to
visitors. That means making the order of worship easy to follow, avoiding too
many hidden responses or expectations, and giving even the least experienced
among us something to think about when they go home.

2.Preaching is
relevant.
As we all know, a sermon is more than just an interesting speech or an exegesis
paper. A good sermon is based on careful interpretation of scripture, but then
that preaching has to apply to real life.
It is in the application that our members begin to put the word into
action and see meaning for their own lives.
One should not have to be a theologian in order to make that connection,
so it is our responsibility to make sure that the language we use is clear and
understandable. Save those words you learned in seminary, like exegesis and
expiation, for your conversations with your pastor friends and use the
vernacular of your congregation and community. Remember, the sign of a good
sermon is not in others seeing how smart you are, but in how faithful you can
help them to be. Everyone should take something home every week.

3.Worship should
be memorable.
In vital churches, worship is remembered long after the service is over. If you find that your members are talking
about the service or your message in the local coffee shop or café several days
later you know that you had an impact.
I’m not talking about being quirky or goofy in worship, but in drawing
interest to our God in ways that others can relate to. People who experience memorable, vibrant
worship are often excited to share about it with their friends and neighbors,
sometimes even inviting them to come see for themselves. It might be the music,
the sermon, or the fellowship afterward, but there is something about vital
worship that stays with the participants after they leave the sanctuary.

4.Worship is an
attitude. In vital churches, people see worship as much
more than a Sunday morning service. It is the attitude that they take with them
into everything that they do. Worship impacts the decisions we make, the
relationships we share, and even the problems we encounter. In turn, that makes
worship our motivation for service in the community. That means that the
outreach of our church, no matter what form it takes, is an extension and
reflection of our worship, even encouraging our members to feel comfortable
sharing about their faith with others who have little understanding of what it
means to know Jesus.

5.The Spirit is
welcome in worship.
We have all been in congregations where we have sat down to worship and then
felt less than inspired. When the
service becomes an exercise in moving from one item on the agenda to the next,
there is little sense of expectation or inspiration and too often the most
exciting thing on your mind has to do with your plans for lunch. In vital worship,
when the Spirit is welcome there is a sense that God is indeed present and that
an encounter with the Almighty is not only possible, but likely. Leaving room
for God means leaving room for the unexpected. It means allowing for awe and
wonder and not just order. While good planning is an essential part of our
preparation for any worship service, allowing for silence and mystery is
equally important. Being a good leader is not just knowing what to say, but
also knowing when to get out of the way.

Incomplete as it
might be, my intent in sharing this list is to get the conversation started. What
I want to avoid are excuses, reasons why we can’t make our worship have life
and excitement no matter what size our church might be. There are certain
things out of our control or that are hard to change, like the resources we
have available or the number of members in our church. But these are a few
characteristics that we find in the worship of vital churches and whether we
have 30 or 300 in attendance they give us a starting point for considering how
we might encourage and enhance the worship of our own small and rural churches.